What's Up?
Tuesday, 10 November 2009
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Thank a Veteran

Currently
The Songbird of the South
By Kate Smith
White Cliffs of Dover
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Sunday, 08 November 2009
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Good Thought
(from one of the blogsI read - one of the many, tho the numbers are dwindling!)
Pastoral issue here, Gals.
Personal experience tells us that older folks often think the world is going to hell in a hand basket. Everything is getting worse. Kids are horrible. Food doesn't taste as it did. Violence reigns...
Not all older people are sour about the future but many are. Like the ladies at the bridge table yesterday who asked,"do you know anything good?" I started naming good things like sweet parenting I observed, lovely cool weather, people being kind to each other. No matter what I offered the ladies retorted with negative words.
I took a deep breath then said, "I hear people over 40 often think the world is going to hell in a hand basket." No one smiled.
I suppose I'd be crabby about the future too if I depended on Fox news for my worldview, picked friends who were fearful and negative, read the mailers from the insurance industry about health care and looked at my stock portfolio everyday.
Yep, the world is in trouble. This is not new. Every generation sees the world as a troubled place.
Can we bring the theological idea of grace to the table?
In the midst of a confusing world, grace offers acceptance, welcome and a view of the kindness of God to each of us. Grace allows us to savor the blessings, cope with the difficulties and remember what is important.
Love from St.C.
Ovrer and Out

Currently
A Lucky Child: A Memoir of Surviving Auschwitz as a Young Boy
By Thomas Buergenthal
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Monday, 02 November 2009
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Memories Light the Corners of My Mind (snicker)
I spent the weekend at the beach with four of my high school cronies – no, I didn’t say “crones” – there’s a difference!
I’d like to reflect on a few things:
1) For me, the more introverted of the group, there was no awkwardness in our re-meeting after so many years. I usually take a while to warm up to folks….but we bounced out of the car at Sarah’s condo, hugged BIG hugs (I’m not a big hugger either) and then just started in gabbing – for 48 hours! Except for the time spent sleeping, of course. Time just dropped away. And we hit the ground running – catching up on 40 years worth of truth, misperceptions, gossip (I know) and just plain talk, talk, talk.
2) These ladies were not all part of one single group in high school - we all know each other in different ways. Some went to elementary school together, some got in trouble together. Some were in scouts together. Some went to other elementary or junior highs together. Even some college roommates. We are “Conservative”, Democrat”, “Liberal”, single, married, widowed, divorced, dating, not interested in dating at this age. Trusting, untrusting, scarred, angry, confident, restless, settled in, content – all Christians, attend a church, are faithful. More of us were together in glee club during high school – we were not all “best friends” or sorority sisters. Yet here we all are - cheering each other on, praying for each other and each other's children, recounting memories, emailing and texting through the day. As many have said, “Time is a great leveler.”
3) And, lastly – on a more personal note – spending time with these ladies – not just this weekend at the beach, but since the reunion this summer, emailing, on Facebook and our private blog – I feel more connected to my growing up years. Those impressionable years that form us and help make us who we are. It has presented to me the opportunity to reflect on a time that I don’t usually take time to think much about on a day-to-day basis. To remember my parents, others’ parents, siblings – crazy times and not so crazy times. We laughed, we yucked it up, we teared up, we stomped our feet we were laughing so hard. We realized so much more we have in common with each other – that just graduating from the same high school; lo, those many long years ago.
Friends are never earned; they’re a gift from the loving God.
And they’re precious beyond human evaluation.
But you dare not take them for granted
or they’ll drift away like smoke….
Who is your friend?
He’s someone who warms you with a nod
or with the unspoken word in hard times
when you’re hurting beyond words.
A friend is someone who clinks his glass against yours.
Or answers the phone at three o’clock in the morning when you’re lost
and with a few words of encouragement and concern,
makes you realize that you’re not lost at all.
Friends come in both sexes and in all shapes and sizes.
The most important thing they have in common
is the ability to share with you your most sky-splitting joys,
or your deepest, most awesome sorrows….
For they are your friends.

Currently
Galveston
By Glen Campbell
Friends (remastered) #6
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Sunday, 25 October 2009
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In Between All My Sleeping
....I read a great (ANOTHER GREAT!) book.
Here are a few of the lines, I wrote down to keep: "The heat never did seem to bother Me;;e ;ole ot dod tje rest opf (oops, sorry-mcm!) .....Nelle like it did the rest of us. She was always cool and slow, like she and store's old ceiling fan were on the same speed."
"Yes, dahlink," I said, imitating the old movies, "once you have graduated from the "Calla & Sukey Kissing Academy,' your lips are the only badge you need!" (Maybe you don't need to know that girls teach girls how to kiss before boys do!)
"Just holler if you need anything," Sonny Boy said. And I went to sleep knowing that I lived in a house full of people who would care for me, no matter what."
"Remember that none of us is alone in our grief," Father Gerard said. "All of us, every one of us, is held by God - whatever we think God to be. Whatever Holy Force we might conceive of holding us together is here with us now and will be with us forever.. In the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, go in peace now, to love and serve the Lord and to bless our brother and our son, Sweet Chalon. And we thank the Lord for his gracing us with Sweet's presence on this earth."
"The Moon Lady was revealing herself to me, and she sent a thought into my mind. I will not give you unnecessary grief. That was her gift. That was M'Dear's promise, that suffering would happen in my life, but that even when things seemed their darkest, the suffering would have some kind of meaning."
"And again M'Dear's voice filled my mind. "Look closely now," she said, "and wait. These are the two most important things I can tell you now. Look closely and wait."
Very good book - made me wish I had grown up in Louisiana!
Over and out (pleased)
Currently
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder: A Novel
By Rebecca Wells
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Sunday, 11 October 2009
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Reading
Spending some time in this book this afternoon.
Brian McLaren's comments strike a chord with me:
"In the first few chapters of Don's new book, Don got me thinking about Don and his interesting life. Then for several chapters, he got me thinking about my own life. And then for the rest of the book, I couldn't help but think about God and other people, and the kind of future we're creating together. That sounds like solid evidence that this uniquely talented and sagely writer/thinker/storyteller has given us another wonderful and life-enriching reading experience."
Ditto.
Over and out

Currently
A Million Miles in a Thousand Years: What I Learned While Editing My Life
By Donald Miller
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Friday, 09 October 2009
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MY HAIR! An Idea......

Currently
The Crowning Glory of Calla Lily Ponder: A Novel
By Rebecca Wells
see related
Friday, 25 September 2009
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Water Water Everywhere
...and (literally) not a drop to drink.
Check out these pictures :
This could be any one of any of us! I cannot imagine!
(Thanks, Jawan, for the link)
Over and out

Currently
The Help
By Kathryn Stockett
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Monday, 21 September 2009
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Another Good Quote
It's the good girls who keep the diaries; the bad girls never have the time. ~Tallulah Bankhead
uh oh - I do,indeed, keep a diary! uhmmmmm.
Over and out

Currently
The Red Leather Diary: Reclaiming a Life Through the Pages of a Lost Journal (P.S.)
By Lily Koppel
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Wednesday, 16 September 2009
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Good Quote
“Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future.” ~Paul Boese
Over and out

Currently
The Piano Teacher
By Lynn York
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Friday, 11 September 2009
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Have You Forgotten?

Currently
America the Beautiful
By Ray Charles
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About Me
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I love God, books. God, friends. God, books, books, books - did I say "books"?
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- Name: Madewyn
- Member Since: 3/2/2006
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